7 ways to Increase the Nutritional Value of any Meal

Can you increase the nutritional value to your meal without changing the taste?

Whether it’s fiber, calcium, vitaminC or protein, there is always some addition you can make to a meal to make it more nutritious. Better yet, these additions are often hardlynoticeable. Instead of choosing a broad-spectrummultivitamin or purchasing a greaterrange of supplements, look to natural, freshfood to give your body the vitamins and minerals it needs.

Here are 7 easy ways to lift the nutritional value your meals:

1. Adding good fat with avocado

1 – Adding good fat with avocado

Avocados are one of the bestnaturalsources of goodfat. Consuming just ½ an avocado helps you stay fullerlonger, reducesugarcravings and improvesbrainfunction, studies have shown. Along with a good serving of valuabledietaryfat, one avocado covers a large percentage of your RecommendedDaily Values (RDV) needs including:

53% of your Vitamin K

33% of your Vitamin C

28% of your Potassium

26% of your Vitamin B6

21% of your Vitamin E

2. Reducing sugar with stevia

2 – Reducing sugar with stevia

On average our dailysugarintake is far too great, and from sources you wouldn’t thinktwice about. In addition to the influx of Westernsnacks, drinks and fastfoods, recent decades has brought with it an increase in the averagesugarintake into the Asiandiet. With bubbleteas, sweetbreads and heavilysweeteneddesserts, the landscape of traditional Asian diets has done a 360 from its originalmodel.

One way to decrease the sugar content of a meal or drink is to use a naturalsweetener like Stevia. This natural sweetener is made from the Steviaplant and is around 40timessweeter than sugar, with almost 0 calories per serving. As a result, you require less to achieve the same sweetness, with a lot less harm to your body. Adding this sweetener in place of sugar will help you reduce your cravings over time, eventually weaning yourself off a high sugar diet.

3. Increasing protein with chia seeds

3 – Increasing protein with chia seeds (Source: Huffington Post)

The ‘power food’ that are Chia seeds are among one of the nutritionallyvaluable foods known to man. Despite their recent popularity as a superfood, the native south American plant was a staple food in the diet of many Aztecs and Mayans for hundreds of years. Their highprotein and highfibercontent, in comparison to its calories, makes it one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world. 2 tablespoons (around 28 grams) contains:

This fibrousfood is one of the easiest and mostunaffecting ways to increase your dailyfiberintake. Per teaspoon, you’re looking at around 4g of fiber, almost 20% of your daily fiber needs. A lot of people find adding psylliumhusk to baking is one of the best places to use it because of its ability to keep mixtures moist and dense. You can also sprinkle the husks on top of salads, trail mixes or in smoothies. The addition won’t make any difference to taste, just the fiber content, as the husk is completely tasteless!

Another topping that easily increases the nutritional value of meals is LSA – linseed, sunflower seed and almond mix. This topping isn’t unnoticeable in meals, but that’s one of the best things about this particular addition. The nutty and rich flavours it adds to every meal will make you want to add it to your porridge, salad, on top of dinners and dessert. One serving (100g) of this addition provides plenty of your RDV needs including:

39% of your Protein

70% of your Vitamin E

34% of your VitaminB6

30% of your Folate

6. Add a dash of cinnamon

6 – Add a dash of cinnamon

I could go on forever on the health benefits of cinnamon. In a recent study, even just smelling the spice made from the inner bark of the Cinnamomum tree has shown to improve a variety of memory and cognitive markers. A few proven health benefits from adding cinnamon to a diet includes:

Improving cognitive impairment

Curbing food cravings

A powerful source of antioxidants

Reducing inflammation

Reducing blood pressure

7. And a dash of turmeric

7 – and a dash of turmeric

There are literally thousands of studies that have been done on the benefits of curcumin, the main compound found in turmeric. The mildly aromatic spice can go unnoticed in curries, stews and exotic sauces.Some even make lattes with the spice because of its smooth flavour. Curcumin is one of the most frequently used natural compounds in the medical industry, as it has often delivered more promising results than modern medication! For example, curcumin has been used by naturopaths and doctors alike to aid in illnesses as:

An anti-inflammatory

An antidepressant

An assistant treatment for cancer

An anti-coagulant

A pain-killer

An assistant treatment to Diabetes

An Arthritis treatment

A cholesteroltreatment (bad cholesterol)

7 ways to Increase the Nutritional Value of any Meal was last modified: January 15th, 2018 by Laura Fitzpatrick